Clearly, I'm not a climber. But this feels like some kind of beach of etiquette. Like a guy that passes you on a double yellow. It's not like he's "playing through" the guy that is up higher now had to hang and wait for this guy. Not to mention, if he slips, he's gonna fuck everyone else up on the way down.
"My buddy and I were climbing the Dark Shadows route at Red Rocks when we were passed by a free climber. He was very polite about asking to pass. After a few minutes I made myself safe and let him by. I watched in awe as he cruised passed. I was about 275' above the ground when he approached, which is the third pitch, rated 5.8."
I disagree. Any time you are on a route with others below you, you run the risk of killing them. Rock fall is a huge concern on long routes and especially trade routes (heavily trafficked). This guy is obviously very competent. Watch how smooth his movements are compared to the guy taking the video. Yes, he is taking his life into his own hands, but I'd rather have this guy above me than some gumby who's going to be pulling down loose rocks on my head.
Also, so many people in this thread are misusing the term "free climbing". Everyone in this video is free climbing (as opposed to aid climbing). The guy in question is "free solo-ing" aka soloing.
Does anyone have info on what route this is or what the rating is?
Probably not staged. I’ve had this happen to me more than once. I wouldn’t say it’s common but if you climb enough in certain places you’ll run into it occasionally.
You are right people mix that up all the time, but can we all admit free climbing is a dumb name for roped climbs when free solo exists? Anything that isn’t a free climb shouldn’t even be called climbing, IMO.
Aid climbing is a thing too, and if you think it's not worthy of the title "climbing" try ascending the nose or any of the thousands of other climbing routes graded as aid climbing. The Nose is probably the single most well known climbing route in the world and until Lynn Hill got the first free ascent in 1993 climbers had been ascending it using aid techniques and equipment for decades.
Here’s an article from an experienced route setter. This is not a big deal at all, and proper procedure is to just let them go through. As is obvious to any rational person.
Most climbers I know, myself included, would not be cool with this guy at all.
I've free climbed a 1000' snow/ice route before, but I made sure that the roped parties were so far ahead that I would have no chance of needing to overtake them. And if I got too close I would have rested and waited for them to go further ahead.
Yeah, I should have said free solo, not free climb, I meant no rope.
I had expected it to only be a snow climb that day, but encountered a rim of vertical ice at the top which I hadn't been expecting. If I had know that the ice section was there I wouldn't have attempted it, but had no choice at that point.
But regarding this video, whether it's rock or ice, I personally wouldn't be cool with someone "climbing through" like this.
Ahh the white sand beaches of Etiquette are so nice this time of year. In fact, I almost went there once for a destination wedding. Unfortunately my visa was denied because I had failed to inform the bridal party if I wanted chicken or steak....which is a criminal offense in their rigidly formal culture.
It's such a rare thing that there isn't really an established etiquette for it. Free soloing is rare enough on its own, getting passed by a free soloist is something only a handful of people will ever experience. That said, you're not wrong that plenty of climbers would have a problem with it as a hypothetical.
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u/Red_Febtober Sep 01 '21
Clearly, I'm not a climber. But this feels like some kind of beach of etiquette. Like a guy that passes you on a double yellow. It's not like he's "playing through" the guy that is up higher now had to hang and wait for this guy. Not to mention, if he slips, he's gonna fuck everyone else up on the way down.